I recently started my VA business, so I dropped in to my local Office Supply store (one of the big chains) to pick up what I expected to be approximately $1,000.00 worth of needed software, pens, etc. (The VA business is all about support, so having exactly what you need when you need it in order to serve your customer is imperative.) It's true I could have purchased a great deal of this material online and saved myself some money, but, because I was mainly focusing on software, I wanted to be able to ask questions and make certain I was buying exactly what I needed, and not getting more than necessary, etc. The opportunity to create a relationship with someone on a local level also appealed to me. You never know when a customer's going to need something you've never heard of, and need it yesterday.

I took the kids, because, well, they are my kids, and I'm their Mom, and taking care of them is my first job. (I love my babies by the way.) My daughter is almost 3 and my son is a year and half, so shopping is not something either of them has developed a taste for just yet.

After picking up a few normal office supply items, I get to the software section of the store. I see a few of the programs I've come to buy, and look over the empty display boxes to get a feel for exactly what I'm buying. I'm really just trying to kill time until the Software Guru Guy, we'll call him Lumpy, finishes playing with a computer. I waited, and waited some more. During this time my son gradually goes into complete meltdown. (For those of you without children, meltdown is when kids scream, cry, kick, throw things, cough, get sick, and do just about anything else they can conjure up in their tiny little minds to get you to start doing something they want to do, and stop doing what you need to do.)

About ten minutes into the waiting, my son is blood red and screaming at the top of his lungs. I've tried playing with him, talking to him, bouncing him, singing to him (poor kid), and lots of other stuff. Unfortunately, nothing